Wednesday, December 26, 2007

We've just finished doing all the dishes after yet another Christmas party. For the second year already, K. and I have invited our respective families over for a festive Christmas meal. And instead of the traditional black pudding and sauerkraut (we've already had three traditional Christmas meals this week), we served something different this year: roast goose (sourcing and roasting courtesy of restaurant Stenhus, Tallinn*) and braised red cabbage, alongside with some lovely Estonian potatoes, creamy goose giblet gravy, and pickled pumpkin salad. (And

The recipe is from the Christmas 1998 issue of BBC Good Food magazine, but I've fiddled with it a little. You cannot really see the prunes on the photo below, but they were an excellent addition to the braised cabbage, adding a much-needed sweetness.

Heat the oil on a large saucepan. Add onion and saute for about 5 minutes, until it starts to soften.
Add cabbage and saute, stirring every now and then, for 7 minutes.
Add the prunes, orange juice, balsamic vinegar, season with salt and pepper.
Cover the saucepan with a lid and simmer on a low heat for about 30-60 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the cabbage is cooked to your liking (I like it with a bit of bite, but it's also lovely when cooked until soft).
If the cabbage looks too dry at the end of the cooking process, add some more orange juice or water.

* One day I'll reveal why the executive chef of the best gourmet restaurant in Estonia was roasting my Christmas goose this year :)

Just lovely! And guess what, I did red cabbage/onion for Christmas Eve too, though not with orange/prune, instead with apple/clove. I'm so glad to have another version for my 'to try' list! Happy New Year, Pille! One of the my great joys of blogging has been coming to know you, especially since you've been back in Estonia and have been writing about so many traditional foods. I'm always so pleased to see a new post, wondering, What shall it be, this time?